My brother and his family ARE indeed kind, generous, and a thousand other good things, because they are not only putting up with me for the duration (knowing that I'll be home after 6:30, and up and out by 9 at the latest), but they are also housing several other horse hobos...er, friends of mine. Donna, my former partner in crime from TX (who USED to be my "other" eventing buddy in Lubbock, but left me for the greener--literally-pastures of Austin), Cynthia, my friend from NM, and also Stacy (aka Cookiepony), my online-now-f2f friend. Did I mention how utterly cool my brother and his family are?
Our first stop Thursday morning was the traditional foray into Quillin Leather and Tack, just down the street a few miles from my brother's house. I ended up getting my wonderful grey boy Paycheck another halter (he's had several from there, but somehow after leasing him, he ended up with NO halters that came back with him, so he needed a new one), and I HAD to get a lovely leather flask, a nice wallet for my kiddo, another cool leather purse, and a few other essential horsey items (face brush, grooming rag, etc.). So far, so good. On to the horse park!
We were worried about the weather, so we all brought rain gear (though Cynthia and I left ours in the car), which then ensured a clear, beautiful day. It was a bit hot to sit in the dressage arena, with that incredibly white footing reflecting in the sun and back into our eyes given our front row seats, so we decided to start off in the trade fair. At least that was my initial thought: a breeze through the inside, cool trade fair, then onto dressage....
But somehow, the three of us (I have to note here that Stacy is volunteering every day, and being incredibly diligent about her duties) ended up spending a long time....a VERY long time....and a lot of money....at this same trade fair. I thought I had gotten everything I needed....but then, there was the champagne FITS shirt on sale (and me with two pairs of champagne breeches)....the back on track stuff that somehow just started piling up (initially, I only wanted a couple saddle pads and a knee brace).....the electric unit and cool heating pads....and suddenly, I'm getting a call from my credit card making sure it's not been stolen.
Oooops.
We DID see Boyd Martin's first place dressage ride, which was lovely, and Heather Morris' FINE dressage test (along with Will Coleman's, Will Faudree's, and a few others)....but the bulk of the time (and time IS money) was spent (literally!) in retail therapy that I didn't even know I needed.
Hopefully, that's done. Now we can concentrate on the event!
The most EXCITING thing that happened to me, however, did in fact happen in the trade fair, and it was worth missing Becky Holder and Karen O'Connor for.
I came face to face with god. AND he remembered me!
That's right....in front of the Bit of Britain tent, I looked up to see if Cynthia and Donna were anywhere in the vicinity, and came face to face with god himself: James C. Wofford. Now, if you've read ANY of my blogs, you know that he's my absolute, all-time hero. I've taken a couple of clinics with him (and blogged them), but hey, I'm just a T3D wanna-be, and he's got REAL eventers he's working with on a regular basis, plus any number of clinic stargazers like me he sees every few weeks or so. But guess what? Apparently, I'm memorable--because he said "Hi--it's Becky, isn't it? You're a long way from home!" We chatted for all of 30 seconds, but still....it was Jim Wofford, AND he remembered my name!
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